Wrap-Up

Let’s stop to reflect on Ms. McTeejay’s experiences in seeking ways to give more effective feedback to her 8th grade students. After locating and watching a series of videos on descriptive feedback, she now knows that feedback, if it is done well, can be a powerful tool in improving student learning.

Before watching the video series, Ms. McTeejay has only given evaluative feedback through grading and simple comments like “excellent”, “nice work”, “watch your spelling”, or “follow capitalization rules” to her students. After being surprised by the quality of work her students turned in, even after having the opportunity to self-assess and revise, she wonders what she can do to change that. Upon further reflection, she realizes that her students rarely look past the grade on the top of the papers she returns, and in subsequent assignments it seems as though the comments she has given to her students are being ignored. There is no noticeable improvement in their work, as a result. Her students are missing a key component of the learning process because they do not have a full understanding of where they are in relation to learning goals or what they can do to reach those goals. So, Ms. McTeejay sets out to learn how to provide that missing piece of the puzzle for her students.

From the first video segment, Ms. McTeejay learns that feedback “engages students and teachers collaboratively in learning.” She also learns what feedback is and what makes it effective, and she begins to understand how providing feedback to her students while they are involved in the learning process will help them to reach their learning goals. One of the key things she learns about feedback is that in order for it to be effective, feedback must provide information to students about what they are doing well, what they need to improve, and how they can improve. These three key components of effective feedback have been shown to “significantly” improve student learning and achievement. Over the course of the video, Ms. McTeejay also learns she needs to provide “clear, concise feedback” that is related to the learning goals, and she needs to give her students time to “act” on the feedback once she has given it.

After watching the first video, Ms. McTeejay begins to think about ways she can improve the feedback she gives to her students and decides to try out her new feedback style with the writing assignment she has in her lesson plans for the next week.

From the second video segment, Ms. McTeejay learns that, although feedback is a vital component for improving student learning, not all feedback is beneficial. She also learns that assessment feedback has the potential for negatively impacting students, especially those low-performing students who already feel that they lack the ability to learn, based on previous performance. A particularly important lesson she learns is “the structure, focus, and amount of feedback are all factors that determine whether feedback will support learning.” Additional information in the video helps Ms. McTeejay to realize the differences between evaluative feedback, which she has been giving most often, and descriptive feedback, which is what she needs to learn to give to her students.

After watching the second video, Ms. McTeejay reflects on the kind of feedback she has been giving to her students, and she realizes she needs to practice giving more descriptive feedback. With her new understanding that evaluative feedback is simply a judgment about a student’s learning while descriptive feedback is “detailed” and “precise” and provides students information about where they are in relation to their learning goals, Ms. McTeejay begins to think about how she will implement effective feedback techniques so she can help her students improve.

From the third video segment, Ms. McTeejay learns that providing effective feedback to her students requires purposeful planning. She also learns about "The Feedback Loop” and the continuous learning process that begins when students are assigned an activity that relates to a specific learning goal. During the feedback loop, teachers gather informal assessment data while students are working on the activity. Ms. McTeejay recognizes that she already conducts informal assessments of student learning, but she also realizes that she is not using that data to effectively impact her students’ achievement because she is not providing her students with the feedback they need to make adjustments and improve their learning. Over the course of the video, Ms. McTeejay learns more about when and how to provide feedback so that it will have the most positive impact, and she thinks about how to plan for giving feedback during her lessons so students will have time to use that feedback for improvement. She also learns that pairing the type of feedback with the assignment is equally important.After watching the third video, Ms. McTeejay considers more purposeful planning of the feedback she provides to her students. She now understands that feedback is part of the larger learning experience for her students, and she needs to make sure the feedback she gives her students matches the activities in which they are engaged. As she begins to think about the lessons she will teach in the coming week, she comes up with an idea about how to adjust her planning template so she can include specifics about providing feedback at “critical checkpoints” in the lesson, while the students still have time to use it to reach their learning goals.

From the fourth video segment, Ms. McTeejay learns that in order for the feedback she gives her students to be effective, it must connect directly to the learning goals and to the criteria that have been set for success. She has heard about planning “with the end in mind”, but she has always considered “the end” to be the summative assessment at the end of the unit. Now, she is beginning to understand that “the end” is actually the learning goal and that she needs to provide her students with a clear path to get there. She can do that with the right kind of feedback. Ms. McTeejay also learns that she needs to include her students in the process of setting the criteria for success by showing them exemplars and by involving them in the discussions of what makes the exemplars models of quality work. Additionally, she picks up on the fact that the success criteria should be worded in language her students will understand, instead.

After watching the fourth video, Ms. McTeejay plans to begin establishing clear learning goals and providing a set of success criteria for students because she now knows this will help them to understand what they need to do to be successful. She realizes the importance of getting her students involved in setting the success criteria for the assignments they are being asked to complete, and Ms. McTeejay decides she will try establishing success criteria, with her students’ input, for the essay writing assignment they will be beginning soon.

From the fifth, and final, video segment in the series, Ms. McTeejay learns that by providing effective, descriptive feedback to her students as they work toward learning goals, she is also helping them to develop strong self-assessment practices. If Ms. McTeejay begins to implement the things she has learned from watching the videos in this series, her students will soon begin to monitor their own progress, make adjustments without depending on her feedback to guide them, and set their own learning goals. But, she realizes they will not just pick up these skills on their own; they will have to be taught these assessment skills. By helping her students to develop their own self-assessment skills, Ms. McTeejay and her students will turn assessment OF learning into assessment AS learning.After watching the final video in the series, Ms. McTeejay now realizes she has a big job ahead of her. But, she knows she is up to the task. In addition to improving her own feedback skills, she understands that she will be helping her students improve their peer- and self-assessment skills along the way. One of the ideas she picks up from the videos is the implementation of feedback logs to help students monitor their progress. Using the examples from the video, as well as a few hours spent searching for ideas on Pinterest, Ms. McTeejay begins to plan for the new feedback logs she will introduce to her students in the next few days.

Ms. McTeejay is excited about the potential descriptive feedback has to positively impact her students’ learning, and she can’t wait to get started.

Revisiting Initial Thoughts

Think back to your responses to the Initial Thoughts questions at the beginning of this Module. After working through the Perspectives & Resources, do you still agree with those responses? If not, what aspects about them would you change?

What should Ms. McTeejay know in order to provide effective feedback to her 8th grade students?

And

What could Ms. McTeejay do to help her students better understand where they are, where they are going, and what they need to do to get there?